[Published: Tuesday September 18 2018]
 Amnesty highlights escalation of horrific violence in Anglophone Cameroon
DAKAR 18 Sep (ANA) - Violence in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon is increasingly desperate and spiralling out of control, Samira Daoud, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for West and Central Africa has said.
“By attacking and kidnapping students and teachers, we have reasons to believe many other lives of ordinary people are now at risk with the violence carried out by some members of the armed separatists groups. This must immediately stop,” said Samira Daoud.
As a result of the violence in the Anglophone regions, up to 400 ordinary people have been killed since a year by both the security forces and the armed separatists.
Amnesty says it has also recorded more than 260 security incidents since the beginning of the year, ranging from clashes between armed separatists and security forces, kidnappings of members of the general population and the killing of security forces by armed separatists. The incidents also include unlawful killings by the security forces, and the destruction of private properties by both sides.
“Perpetrators from both sides who have attacked and killed people or destroyed their properties must not continue to walk free. The authorities in Cameroon must commit to urgently, promptly, independently and effectively investigating these crimes,” said Samira Daoud.
Since the start of the crisis in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions in late 2016, Amnesty International has documented the deaths of more than 160 members of the security forces at the hands of armed separatists. However, the death toll could be much higher as attacks go underreported, Amnesty said.(ANA)
FA/ANA/18 September 2018--------
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